Hawk Weekly
November 22nd-23rd, November 30th-December 4th
Havel Elementary
Email: kristina.tepper@uticak12.org
Website: havel.uticak12.org
Location: 41855 Schoenherr Road, Sterling Heights, MI, USA
Phone: 586 7975200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HavelElementary/
Message From Mr. Monroe- Interim Superintendent
Dear Parents/Guardians,
The holidays this year will bring a much-needed rest and a sense of renewal that this season represents. Even as we look forward to this time, we recognize that the global pandemic will continue to challenge us with uncertainty and change.
One area where I would like to bring clarity and consistency is regarding the status of our learning plan. Given the current local environment related to COVID-19, students will continue to be in a remote learning environment through Friday, January 15, 2021. Our current plan is to transition students back to classrooms beginning Tuesday, January 19, 2021 following Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Please know our goal remains an in-person environment for our students. There are no easy answers, and we respect that the pandemic can be the source of strong opposing views. It is important we continue to work in partnership with respect and a commitment to our students. To ensure transparency, I want to share the following points that inform our decision-making process:
Health and Safety
By viewing our community dashboard, you will notice the increase in health and safety factors. These trends are anticipated to continue during the holiday season and beyond. While children and adolescents are found to be at a lower risk for COVID-19, we recognize the disease spreads quickly to individuals within the higher risk categories. In the case of UCS, this impacts many of our staff members who support and care for our students every day.
Stability and Continuity of Learning
The transitions from in-person to remote instruction can be difficult and disruptive for everyone involved. The information we are sharing today will provide time to plan and consistency for our students, staff and families so that all of us know what to expect over the next few months.
Resources to Meet our Students’ Needs
When the community spread of COVID-19 is brought into our buildings, we follow Macomb County Health Department guidelines for individuals who may have had exposure. This leads to students, teachers and staff members needing to quarantine for 14 days. The result is that UCS and surrounding districts face significant problems finding substitute personnel to continue in-person instruction and support district operations.
Working as a Community to Slow the Spread
As the leaders of our health systems have noted, without shared community responsibility, hospitals are being overwhelmed and our students, families and staff members are put at a higher risk. It is important we all work together to follow appropriate mitigation and safety strategies to reduce community spread to levels where we can once again return to in-person learning.
A mid-January return provides us an appropriate distance from the anticipated spikes during the holiday season. Given the uncertainty of the COVID-19 environment, we will continue to monitor health and safety factors to determine the possibility of returning students or groups of students at an earlier date. I know we are all frustrated, even exhausted, by this global pandemic. However, our shared commitment of working to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and news of a potential vaccine can provide us a sense of optimism and hope.
Our community has much to celebrate this Thanksgiving. I am proud to see the continued resilience of our children and the commitment of our staff and families to help students reach their full potential.
I wish you and your family the best for a safe and happy holiday season.
Warm Regards,
Robert S. Monroe
Interim Superintendent
Send A Smile
Welcome Ms.Buechel
Dates To Know
November
23rd- Family Restaurant Night- Chipotle (See Flyers Below)
24th- HVL Meeting- 7:00 (see link above)
25th-27th- No School- Thanksgiving Break
29th-December 2nd- Virtual Holiday Shop (see flyer above)
December
18th- HVL Reindeer Stuffing Live Event (see info above)
21st- 1/2 Day of School
22nd- 1/2 Day of School- End of 2nd Quarter
Online Tutoring Available
UCS students have free online tutoring available to them through a partnership with the public library. Students can login by clicking the Virtual Library Card App in their Classlink. This will connect your student to a professional tutor to receive help with difficult homework problems between the hours of 4pm – 11pm. Students login with their UCS student number (found on PowerSchool) and the last four digits of their primary phone number that is listed in PowerSchool. ‘UCS’ is in front of the student number. More information can be found on the UCS home page in Success Tool Kit.
Repeated News From Previous Hawk Weekly Newsletters Below
Maturation program for fourth grade and fifth grade girls
The Macomb Intermediate School District will be presenting a maturation program for fourth grade and fifth grade girls and their mothers/guardians, at which time they will answer growth and development questions. This virtual event will take place on Tuesday, December 1, 2020 from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. The flyer has the registration details and should be made available as soon as possible to families of all fourth grade and fifth grade girls.
You have to preregister at this link:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqdeCppjouE9PwljfYdBoQoUv8yIZiaCAb
Dear Havel Families,
I am super excited to share that this year we are partnering with Nothing bundt Cakes to promote reading!
Every student will receive a monthly tracking sheet to record the titles of books that they have read along with the number of minutes spent reading. The goal is to read 400 minutes every month. Now that may seem like a lot but when you break it down, it’s 100 minutes per week or 13 minutes a day. Students can count minutes spent reading for silent reading or for our younger learners, they can count the minutes that an adult reads to them (for example, a story before bed). Chapter books count too! Just record the chapter and the minutes spent daily reading each chapter.
At the end of every month, the tracking sheets will get turned into me. They can turn them in one of two ways. The sheet can be emailed to me (nicole.reynolds@uticak12.org) or the students can return the sheet to their classroom teacher and the teacher will pass it along to me. I will then give each student a certificate to receive a free bundlet (mini cake) from Nothing bundt Cakes located on Hall Road. They do have curbside pickup if you are uncomfortable going inside the store. This program will run from November through March.
If you have any questions regarding this program please feel free to ask! You can either email me or call the office.
Your partner in education,
Mrs. Reynolds
Reading Coach